


Fighting Fate

by magicsophicorn



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Swan Queen Week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 15:43:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3255314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicsophicorn/pseuds/magicsophicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone is born with a tattoo of the first words that their soulmate will say to them. It's just finding that person that's the difficult bit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fighting Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Soulmates AU for Swan Queen Week - Thanks to revengedoctor on Tumblr for the 'modern day soulmate tattoo AU' prompt.
> 
> I've got to admit this might be my new headcanon, beacause seriously, this would explain why Emma says "hi" and her face looks like she's declaring undying love…

Emma ran her fingers softly over the words written down the inside of her forearm.

 

When she was younger they had made no sense to her.

 

_You're Henry's birth mother?_

They were supposed to be the first words her soulmate would say to her when they met for the first time.

 

But that didn't make any sense.

 

If she was Henry's mother, then surely her soulmate would be Henry's father, right?

 

But today she finally understood what it meant.

 

It was funny how one little thing could make all the difference. One little sentence and Emma realised she had known exactly what those words had meant all along. She just hadn't wanted to believe it.

 

_"No wonder your birth mother abandoned you," her foster brother had sneered at her._

Those words tattooed on to her skin from birth meant that some day in the future she would have a son called Henry, she would give him away, and someone would find out. That someone would be her soulmate.

 

Emma decided right then and there that she no longer believed in soulmates. Because if it were true, then that meant that she would give up her child. She would abandon him. And that was something she could never do.

 

She vowed to herself that she would not allow this to happen. She would make sure she never even got pregnant. That would mean that Henry would never exist, but she reasoned it was better not to exist than to live the life of an orphan. Emma knew that from experience.

 

And if there was no Henry, then there would be no soulmate asking if she were his birth mother.

 

It was a small price to pay to ensure that Henry would never have to go through what Emma had.

 

\-----------

 

Her mother told her that she was broken. That it meant that she had no soulmate, so she would do much better to just marry well and forget about the whole thing.

 

Most people had a word, or a sentence, tattooed on their arms. Regina just had two little letters on her wrist.

 

_Hi_

 

No one knew what it meant.

 

"What if it's a word in another language?" Regina had asked.

 

Her mother had just laughed at her.

 

Regina thought about it often. Sometimes she thought her mother was right. That it meant that she had no soulmate. Other times she thought it might mean that she could be free to choose her own love.

 

Then she met Daniel.

 

His first words to her were _"I'm sorry I smell like horses."_

 

Hers to him were _"that's alright, I quite like horses."_

 

He had smiled shyly and lifted his sleeve to show those exact words running down his arm.

 

She was his soulmate.

 

But he wasn't hers.

 

Regina didn't understand how that could be. Especially after she fell in love with him.

 

And she truly did love him.

 

And he loved her.

 

It would have been enough.

 

But then she had saved Snow White's life, only to have her tell her mother about Daniel.

 

When Cora ripped out Daniel's heart in front of her Regina felt as though hers was being ripped out too. How could it hurt this much if he wasn't her soulmate?

 

Afterwards she tried to run, but she was powerless against her mother and her magic, and before she knew it she was married to another man.

 

A man who definitely was not her soul mate.

 

The King.

 

\----------

 

Emma cried when she found out she was pregnant.

 

When they told her it was a boy she laughed hysterically.

 

Because of course. Of fucking course it was.

 

Turns out destiny was harder to escape than she had thought.

 

But she wasn't done fighting fate just yet.

 

She would keep him. She would keep Henry and be his mother. Then no one would need to ask if she was his birth mother.

 

It would be hard, true, but she could do this.

 

She _had_ to do this, for Henry's sake.

 

Soulmate be damned.

 

\----------

 

Power was intoxicating.

 

Rumplestiltskin had given her a taste of power and she had used it to free herself from her mother, and then eventually from her husband.

 

But she couldn't free herself from her desperate yearning for vengeance.

 

Snow was responsible for Daniel's death, and Regina wanted to see her punished for it.

 

But then Snow White found her soulmate and Regina _seethed_.

 

She summoned Rumplestiltskin.

 

"You rang, dearie?"

 

Regina paced the room.

 

"How do I defeat her? I have all this magic, but what use is it? No matter what I do, she wins. She has her soulmate and the whole kingdom loves her. And what about me? I have nothing! Because she took it from me! She ruined my life! Why can't I have a happy ending too?"

 

Regina felt the tears threatening to fall but she wouldn't let them. Not in front of him.

 

"You know there is a way to get everything you want, all in one go," he said, that sly little smile on his face.

 

"And how do I manage that?"

 

He moved so close that his face was almost touching hers.

 

"A dark curse," he whispered. "One that will take away Snow White's happy ending, and give you yours."

 

"And what exactly does my happy ending look like?" Regina asked.

 

She knew him well enough to know that this was a game, a manipulation. It always was with him.

 

He pulled away, wandering around the room, examining objects, before eventually answering.

 

"Why, finding your soulmate, of course. Didn't you ever wonder what your tattoo meant? Why no one knew what it meant?"

 

"How do you know that about my tattoo?" Regina asked quietly, her mind racing. Ever since Daniel had died she had kept her tattoo hidden. She was certain that Rumplestiltskin had never seen it. And yet he knew that she didn't understand what it said.

 

"That's not important dearie. What matters is that I can give you the curse that will take you to the land where your soul mate will be, and in the process our dear Snow White will lose not only her soulmate, but also her new born child…"

 

 _Her child._ Snow was pregnant?

 

The thought of Snow having her perfect happy little family after taking away that possibility from Regina was all the motivation she needed.

 

"How do I cast this curse?"

 

\----------

 

The pain was like nothing she'd ever experienced before.

 

Emma screamed, and swore, and screamed some more.

 

But it was nearly over, she could feel that it was nearly over.

 

As she pushed for the final time, the lights in the hospital dimmed and flickered, the ground shook, and Emma felt the universe turn itself inside out.

 

Emma didn't know whether fate was screaming with her, or at her.

 

But she did know that it was fate. Destiny. Whatever.

 

And Emma finally stopped fighting it.

 

She would give Henry up, like she was supposed to, and trust that fate would bring him back to her. Along with her soulmate.

 

She still cried though.

 

And then she waited.

 

And she hoped.

 

\----------

 

Regina cursed herself for being so naïve.

 

She should have known it wouldn't be simple or easy. She should have known that she couldn't have happiness, not in her realm, nor in this new one.

 

She had woken up in this new land feeling victorious. She had cast the curse. Snow had lost her happy ending and her soulmate, and Regina would soon meet hers.

 

But then she'd discovered that 'Hi' was a common greeting here, and at least 10 people had said it as their first word to her in one day alone.

 

How was she ever supposed to know which one was her soulmate? How was she ever supposed to find them?

 

Once again Regina was forced to conclude that the whole soulmate business was just a fantasy. At least for her anyway.

 

She took it out on Snow. On the town. But mostly on Snow.

 

She took pleasure in flaunting Snow's comatose soulmate in front of her.

 

It made her happy to know that Snow was as miserable as she was.

 

Only the problem was… she wasn't. She didn't even remember him. She didn't know she was looking at her soulmate lying in that hospital bed. She felt no pain, she felt no loss.

 

Regina felt hollow. Casting the curse was supposed to be her happy ending. But it wasn't.

 

She just wanted to love and be loved in return.

 

So she adopted a baby. _Henry._ And she loved him with her whole heart.

 

As the years went by the pain lessened, the emptiness lessened, and instead was slowly replaced with love.

 

Eventually Regina stopped wondering about her soulmate, or lack thereof, because Henry was enough. He would always be enough.

 

\----------

 

Emma forgot, but didn't forget.

 

She lived her life.

 

She had boyfriends. Girlfriends. She even loved some of them.

 

But they were always temporary.

 

She was always waiting.

 

Another birthday came and she made the same wish she made every year.

 

But this year it actually came true.  

 

There was a knock at her door, and there he was.

 

He looked everything and nothing like she had imagined, and Emma had to go into the bathroom for a moment to compose herself.

 

He had found her. He had come back to her.

 

And that meant that now he would take her to her soulmate.

 

\----------

 

Regina had never felt fear like this before. Not whilst living with the King's unwanted advances, not even whilst living under her mother's strict discipline. None of that compared to the fear of losing Henry.

 

She had searched the town. Graham had searched the woods. She'd even asked Mary Margaret to search the school, she was that desperate.

 

There was no sign of Henry. He was gone.

 

And the worst part was that Regina knew it was her fault. Ever since he'd got that stupid book she'd been stricter, more manipulative. She'd been so worried about losing the curse that she hadn't stopped to notice that she was losing her son.

 

He was the one thing that made her happy. The one thing she loved. Her happy ending. And she'd driven him away.

 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices outside and Regina rushed to the door, hoping it was someone with news of Henry.

 

The relief that floods through her when she throws open the door and sees Henry standing there is the sweetest thing she's ever felt.

 

She only truly lets herself feel it when she's holding him in her arms. It feels so good to have him back.

 

Until he looks at her like _that_.

 

"I found my real mom," he spits, and runs past her into the house.

 

Only then does Regina even notice the tall blonde woman standing in front of her.

 

Her brain struggles to process what's happening.

 

"You're Henry's birth mother?" She finally manages to say, still hardly daring to believe it. She can't believe it. Won't believe it. Because if it's true then she's lost him for good.

 

"Hi," the woman breathes, her face shining with far more emotion than the simple greeting warrants.

 

And Regina knows instantly, without needing to see the words she just said written on this woman's arm.

 

This is it. The one she's been waiting for.

 

Her soulmate.


End file.
